Things are getting weird
by lordsandmoose
Summary: Someone crash-lands in Echo Creek. This person will join Star and her best friend Marco on an adventure that will change their lives forever.
1. Touchdown

_A/N welcome to the first chapter of my third fanfic. I would just like to ask before delving into the first chapter: How am I doing? I've asked before but didn't really get a lot of feedback... I'd really like to hear what you all think. That being said, enjoy_

**Chapter 1: touchdown**

It was a normal day in echo creek. Well... As normal as it can be with an interdimentional princess wondering around, and all the trouble that entitles. This particular day was nothing out of the ordinary for the teen princess and her best friend, Marco. Ludo was trying to steal her wand, but wasn't having much success.

"C'mon Ludo! It's like your heart isn't in it anymore." Star teased as she blasted a foe with a cannonball made of flowers.

"Silence, girl! I'll have that wand sooner or later if it's the last thing I do!" Retorted the short villain. This was responded to with a kick to the face by the hoodie clad 'safe kid'.

"Later rather than sooner. Or in your case, never." Marco said with a chuckle. The one-sided battle continued and nearly concluded... Had the sky not exploded. Everyone present instantly stopped what they were doing to gawk at the anomaly in the air. They saw, descending from the sky, a strange object with a crash course to the nearby woods. Everyone looked at each other for a moment before breaking into a run towards it. The next couple of minutes consisted of Star, Marco, Ludo and his minions pushing and shoving each other in an attempt to reach the thing first. In the end, it was a tie, but no one cared about the results of the race. They were more focused on the strange pod that had embedded itself into the ground. The dirt around it was charred by the impact and smoking a bit. A minion poked the pod and retracted his hand quickly. Apparently, it was still hot from entering the atmosphere. The minion sucked on his finger as the others studied the pod. It was strange... Not human-made. But before any further enquiries could be made, the pod hissed as its pressure sealed door popped open. A strange mist poured out of the pod as its doors fully opened, preventing anyone from seeing inside. However, they did made out the silhouette of a figure inside. Ludo looked at his minions and smacked them.

"Well, go check it out!" He commanded. The minions pouted but did as they were told. They entered the mist and approached the pod and figure. But just when they got within arms reach, the figure opened its eyes to reveal beautiful luminescent iris's. Then all heck broke loose. The mist intensified, obscuring view totally. What was left was only the audio of punches landing and minions screaming. At one point, a minion tried crawling out of the mist only to be dragged back in and silenced. Then it went quiet. No one dared to speak. Then, suddenly, the figure began to emerge from the mist. "...nope! I'm out!" These words from Ludo were uttered moments before he turned tail and ran away. Which left Star and Marco alone with the strange being. Marco stood in front of Star protectively, shielding her from it. The being with the glowing green eyes stared at him as it began walking out of the mist.

"So..." It said in a deep voice. "This is the famous Marco Diaz I've heard so much about. I must say..." The figure stepped out fully from the mist. "I was expecting someone wearing nothing but padding." The figure, finished, their voice at a more normal pitch. The person was a boy, around his and Star's age. Average build, dark brown hair, green eyes, and what seemed like emerald-encrusted light armor but cut off from the forearms and knees down, making something of a royal t-shirt and shorts. Star's eyes widened as she tackled the mystery person. Marco went to aid her in her attack, but stopped once he heard her laugh and... Hug him?

"Uh... Star?" Star didn't respond. Instead, Star seemed to be hugging the boy just a bit too hard, as evidence by the boy's pained groans.

"Ah! Stop it! Ugh! Help!" The boy pleaded, but Star ignored. That was, until Marco cleared his throat. This got Stars attention, causing her to release the boy and stand up with him. Star was grinning wildly.

"Mike..." She started. "This is Marco." She started.

"Uh... Hi." Marco said as he shook boy's hand.

"Marco..." Star giggled. "This is my brother." Marco looked at her with wide eyes.

"W-wha...? Who...? How...?" Marco stuttered.

"Yea, and don't give me any trouble about the name, Okay? I know it's 'earth-y', but mom and dad had a glass too many of mew wine before naming me..." Marco took a few moments to collect himself.

"Um... Ok... Mike. Star never told me she had a brother." Star cocked her head at him.

"I didn't? I could have sworn... Oh well." Mike looked at her.

"You never told him about me? pfft. Some sister you are." Mike smirked as he crossed his arms playfully. She punched him and laughed.

"Sorry bro. Listen, we can talk this all over at the Diaz residence. They're awesome." Star began walking towards Marco's home with Mike in tow, telling him about the Diaz's all the way. Meanwhile, Marco was still standing there, trying to process everything. Star rolled her eyes and grabbed him by the hoodie.

"Gak!" The boy groaned as he was dragged away.


	2. Settling in

_A/N Hello everyone! Nothing to say at the moment. Enjoy_

**Chapter 2: Settling in**

Mike looked around the Diaz residence and nodded. It was a nice home, well decorated. Spacious. Upon walking up to the house, Mike saw the tower protruding out of the house, no doubt due to Star. He shook his head then nodded, he knew that was something Star would do. The Diaz's, naturally, welcomed Mike with opened arms. They integrated him just as quickly as they did with Star. Star, of course, acted as his representative and spoke with the Diaz's about Mike's likes, dislikes, personality, and other things. However, this left Mike and Marco quite forgotten. They decided to take this moment to get to know each other.

"So you're her brother?" Marco asked.

"Until proven otherwise." Mike replied with a chuckle. Marco smiled.

"She's a great person."

"Isn't she? She really is interesting... When she's not burning the kingdom do ashes."

"What?"

"Oh, Nothing... Nothing. Anyway, My mother and father told me a bit about you before they departed back to mewni. Did you really wear a helmet in the shower-"

"We don't speak of that." Mike nodded in understanding.

"Got it."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Can I give you an answer?"

"About your name... Couldn't your parents have just changed it when they got sober?" Mike sighed.

"No... In mewni, once a parent decides the name of their child, it's set in stone."

"Oh... Sorry man." Mike shrugged and waived it off.

"It's fine. I've gotten used to it."

"Another thing, why did you fall from the sky? Couldn't you have used the dimensional scissors?"

"I did."

"Huh?"

"I did. I mean, Star came in a horse drawn carriage, so I figured I'd one-up her. And so, capsule falling from the sky came to be."

"Seems kinda dramatic."

"Haven't you met my sister?"

"Fair enough." Marco replied. "One last thing."

"Yea?"

"Who's older?" Marco asked. Mike rubbed the back of his neck.

"We're twins actually... Same age down to the second. We don't fight over it too much though." Marco nodded. They bantered back and forth, getting to know each other more, until Star finished talking with Marco's parents and cantered over to the duo with her usual bubbly attitude.

"Good neeeeeews! Mr. and Mrs. Diaz agreed to let you stay!" She exclaimed.

"Oh, cool. Where am I gonna-" Mike began, but then Star waived her wand and spoke an incantation. Suddenly, a tower manifested out of the other end of the Diaz's house similar to Stars but with a green color palate to suit Mike's tastes. "...Sleep." He finished. Star grinned widely at them.

"Soooooo. What should we do now?" The princess asked.

"Hmm... Well, Since Mike is new, we could show him around town? He kinda did get a bad first impression with Ludo and everything." Marco suggested, but Mike waived it off.

"It was nothing. The guy is little more than a pest at this point." Star giggled. "But seeing more of this uh... Echo creek? That what you call it? Yea. I'd like that." Star and Marco smiled as he showed them around.

Later

"What's that?" Mike asked.

"That's a lamp." Marco replied.

"It produces light via electricity."

"What's that?" Mike pointed to something else.

"That's a traffic cone."

"What's a traffic?"

"It's plural for cars."

"Car?"

"It's a combustion-type machine that converts gasoline into power." Mike chuckled.

"Yea, you totally made that up."

"It's true!" Star piped up. "They also have this thing called a telly vision. It's this box that shows all sorts of cool stuff." She went into further detail, much to Mike's amazement. Marco smiled at the siblings. It was fun watching them gawk at things.

"They even have history books of our culture called 'fairy tales'." Star beamed.

"Really? Then why are they so amazed by magic? Clearly they know of this stuff." Marco tried to explain, but he wasn't getting through to them too well. He figured he had to try again later.

"Hmm... Getting kinda late. We should head home." Marco said.

"Really? It's not that late, safe kid." Marco rolled his eyes at Stars comment.

"Star." He said sternly. Star groaned and gave in.

"Fiiiiiiine... But you owe me an all-nighter out in the town!" She bargained. Marco shook on it and they headed home. Once there, they had diner, Mike getting to know Ralph and Angie a bit before Ralph declared it was time for bed. Mike helped Star and Marco with the dishes, something Star wanted to use magic for, but past offences made Marco stop her. After that, they all said goodnight to one another and headed to their respective room. Mike, Star, and Marco all settled into their bed and tried getting rest. They all had a feeling in their gut. Not a bad one. They just knew, that deep down, life was gonna get... Interesting.


	3. School daze

_A/N Hey everyone! Happy early Easter! Enjoy!_

**Chapter 3: School daze**

Star awoke with a giant grin. She sat bolt upright and looked into the mirror.

"Today's the daaaaaaay!" She sung to herself as she got dressed. The 'day' she was referring to was Mike's first day of school. Oh, she had so many things to show him: The classes, the gym, the playground, the girls bathroom. Though, she was warned by Marco not to let him in there. After several warnings, she finally decided to heed them. "Maybe I'll sneak him in there when Marco isn't looking..." She giggled to herself as she grabbed her wand and walked out of her room. She was met by Marco, dressed and ready for the day, as always. Marco smiled at her, and she smiled back. Then Star smiled at Mike... Except he wasn't there. "Um... Mike?" She called out. She got no reply. Curious, she and Marco crept over to Mike's room and gently rapped on the door. Still no reply. "Hmm..."

"What is it? Is something wrong?" The safe kid asked. Star didn't reply. Instead, she threw open Mike's door and gazed into his room.

"Just as I thought..." Star mumbled.

"What?" Star walked over to Mike's bed and yanked off the covers. Lo and behold, Mike was still deep asleep.

"Old habits die hard I guess..." Star said with a chuckle. She waived her wand to make a magic megaphone and placed it to her lips. She then leaned down to Mike's ear and... "WAKEY, WAKEY BROTHER! TIME FOR SCHOOL!" The verbal assault was enough to wake the dead, let alone the poor boy who had once was having nice dreams, was now sprawled out on the floor looking around wildly.

"Ah! Who?! What?! Where?!" He scanned the room until his eyes layed upon Star, at which point he narrowed them.

"That was mean, Star." He scolded while Star rolled on the floor in a fit of laughter and tears.

"Oh but it was funny as heck! Hahahah!" She collected herself after a few minutes of laughter and sighed while wiping a tear. "Oh yea.

. Oh! I almost forgot! You get to go to school with us today!" She announced with glee. Mike was not amused.

"...You Woke me up for school...?"

"YES!" She said with a wide grin. Mike sighed, he knew this was a battle he wouldn't win.

"Fine... But you have to get out of my room."

"Why?"

"Because I need to get dressed." Star glanced down and noticed her brother was only clad in a pair of briefs. She and Marco blushed with embarrassment as they turned heels and left him to his privacy.

Later

"Hmm... This is it?"

"Yep!" Star said. She wasn't too excited for school itself, just showing him around. Mr. and Mrs. Diaz already enrolled him, so that was out of the way. Star took her brothers arm and began leading him around to points of interest with the help of Marco. "See this? This is a light switch. Apparently, when you flick it up, it produces light! According to Marco, almost everyone on Earth has these." Mike scoffed.

"No way. Magic? Here? Nah." Star begged Mike to try the switch. After he gave in, he gave it a flick and the light turned off. "...Woah... Flick." He flipped the switch and the light turned back on. "Hehehe... Flickflickflickflickflickflickflick." Each time he said flick, he would flip the switch until Marco had to guide them to a different attraction. She showed him the faucet, the locker room, the teachers, the principal. Everything. Near the end of the day, Mike was fully acquainted with the school. As they made their way out of the school, the final bell tolled, signaling all students that they could go home. Star, Marco, and Mike made their way to the exit, but was stopped by a big beefy kid who looked like trouble. He was wearing ripped jeans, a leather vest over a shirt with some band on it, his hair had flaming red highlights in it and his right hand was decorated with rings.

"So..." He said in a gruff voice, blowing a strand of hair out of his eyes as he narrowed them at the trio. "You're the new freak huh?"

"Leave us alone Sledge." Star said to the boy. Mike looked at her.

"Who?" He asked. It was Marco who answered.

"Sledge is what would be the equivalent to a kingpin for all the bullies at this school. He's got most of them into something of a pyramid scheme and he's on top. Everything they take goes to him." Marco explained. Sledge grinned.

"Good one safe kid." He said Marco's dreaded nickname with venom. Sledge then pushed Marco down and chuckled. Star narrowed her eyes and brandished her wand to Sledge.

"Leave us alone you jerk!" She said defiantly. Sledge merely smirked.

"Big words from a little girl. So what if you have magic. I will still stomp you into the ground-" Sledge's threat was interrupted by Mike.

"Heeeeeeeeey! I recognize you!" Mike said. Sledge cocked his head in confusion at Mike. "Yea, you're what the humans called a... A uh... Um... Neanderthal? Yea! That's it! Although I thought your heads weren't supposed to be _that_ slanted..." Mike said with a chuckle and a smirk. Everyone present in the hallway instantly stopped what they were doing and stared at Mike, who dared insult the biggest kid in their grade. Everyone could almost see Sledge's blood pressure rising as the veins in his head bugged out.

"Excuse me?" He said With obvious anger. Mike gave him and insultingly warm smile.

"Sorry. I figured that insult would fly right over your head." Mike chuckled to himself. "That was my fault. How can anything sail over that huge conker?" Mike laughed, his insult caused a few kids to chuckle as well, but the laughter stopped once Sledge lost it and punched Mike right in the head with his improvised knuckle dusters. However, despite being nearly a foot shorter and a whole lot less heavy than Sledge, Mike barely budged. Of course, his head started to bleed, but his smile never faded. Although, Marco could have sworn he saw a flicker of green fire in his eyes but were quickly extinguished. Marco brushed this off as him seeing things under duress. "You know what, Sledge? You're not worth my time. If not gonna waste energy on someone like you. Now go find someone else to annoy." These words from Mike only fueled Sledge's rage as he readied for another attack. But as soon as he raised his fist, a teacher came and wrestled him away. As he was dragged off, he shot a glare towards Mike.

"You made an enemy today..." He said coldly. Mike simply grinned and waived him off. Marco stood up and Star looked at him.

"Mike... You OK?" Mike looked at her and rubbed his bloody head, his face now painted half red with his own fluids.

"I'll be fine. Birthdays and basic math? Who needs it." He said jokingly with a chuckle. This caused a sigh and chuckle if relief from Marco and Star. "So, can we go home now or-" Mike was interrupted by the schools speakers.

"Mike, Star, and Marco, report to the principals office immediately!" The speaker said as it was switched off. The trio looked at each other.

"Uh oh..." Star mumbled.


	4. Capital punishment

_A/N Hey everyone! I hope you had a good Easter. Now, enjoy the chapter and don't be afraid to leave feedback and thoughts._

**Chapter 4: Capital punishment**

"Detention?! For defending ourselves?!" Star bursted after hearing the news, ears red with anger. After being called into the office, much to their surprise, they were told that they would all be receiving a detention for 'disturbing peace' and 'endangerment of staff and students', among other things.The principal rubbed his eyes.

"Well... It sounds bad when you put it that way. But see the facts, instead of getting an adult you decided to further the situation by throwing insults around." He explained as if he had done this thousands of times. Star jabbed a thumb towards her brother, who's head was bandaged, covering his head and part of his eye.

"That's stupid. Mike here got punched in the face by these weird things and look what happened. But what about Sledge? Nothing. He walked away without a scratch! There is literally a trail of blood leading in here from his wound!" She said with a growl. Marco was a bit shocked. He had never seen Star so mad. However, it wasn't completely unjustified.

"She's got a point. Brass knuckles are illegal and against school rules. Mike could have seriously been hurt by that kid." Marco stated. The principal narrowed his eyes at Marco.

"I understand that, Diaz. Rest assured that Mr.. Sledge will be punished accordingly. You three will be kept in a room and he in another for the whole of next week." Star's eyes bugged out.

"A whole week of detention?! That's stupid! This isn't fair at all!"

"What?! That is a terrible excuse for equal punishment! We didn't even do anything!" Marco added. Both were flabbergasted at the absurdity

"Yes." The principal said, ignoring them. "The whole week. Now go, before I get your parents involved." The principal said as he began working on paperwork. Star began to protest, but she and the others were escorted out of the school before she could. She growled and bit her wand handle as hard as she could to suppress her anger.

"Stupid... Stupid... principal." She said between bites. She then looked at Mike, who was silent through the whole thing. "You feeling OK bro?" Mike nodded.

"I'm fine... Just disoriented. I'm really bummed about the detention though... What a way to start my first day, eh?" He said with a light chuckle. Star pouted at her wounded brother and hugged him.

"A whole week of detention..." Marco said in disbelief.

"Well, look on the bright side, this should help your bad boy persona." Star replied. Marco rubbed his neck.

"Yea... Except... I don't really like that title anymore..." He went on to explain how all the adventures he had with Star sort of made his rebellious flame die out and get replaced with adventure. He instead felt dread that he had to sit in a room for a whole boring week. Except, he thought, he had Mike and Star to keep him company. Star and Marco helped the groggy Mike home. What a mess today turned out to be... Mike wasn't even on this planet a full twenty four hours and he was already met with bullying. "We're gonna have to keep an eye on that wound. Make sure it doesn't get infected."

"Sure thing, safe kid." Star said with a playful smile and a sad sigh. "That jerk... I wanna punch his face in..." Marco nodded and comforted her.

"I know Star. Just try not to think about that. Let's just worry about getting home." Star nodded and decided to leave the subject. They got Mike home and explained to the Diaz's what had happened. They were mortified, but were dejected once realized there was nothing they could do. Instead, they decided to have a game night to help ease the tension and stress. It helped a lot, but Star, Marco, and Mike especially, were still feeling the effects of the trauma. When it was time to turn in, they went to the bathroom to redress Mike's wound only to see it mostly healed. He smiled at them. "Woah..." Marco said. Star also seemed sort if shocked, but not a lot.

"Wow... I mean, Mewni people can heal faster than humans, but Mike and I never got hurt this bad... Interesting." Star smiled and hugged her brother, who only looked like he had a black eye. Star hugged her brother again and grinned widely. "Hey, it's the weekend! We don't have school until Monday!" She exclaimed.

"Hey... You're right." Marco replied. "Awesome!" Mike smiled as well.

"This planet is pretty cool so far... Albeit a bit painful." Star and Marco chuckled a bit. Star then realized that It was Mike's first weekend and she was gonna milk it for all it was worth.

"Oh, have I got plans for you tomorrow, boy." She said deviously to her brother.

"Oh?" Mike said.

"Oh, yea. Humans have this thing called a 'carnival' where you eat and play games and ride these big metal thingies all day and night!" She exclaimed excitedly. Mike grinned.

"That sounds awesome!" He replied. Marco had to agree. Echo Creek always did have great carnivals, and it would be the perfect way to wind down after... Today's events.

"So it's decided. We're gonna show you what Earth can be like in it's better days." Marco said. Star and Mike grinned, but then they heard the Diaz's yell for them, telling them it was time for bed. They groaned in protest, but ultimately said goodnight to each other and turned in for the night. Today was a bad day, true, but there was always a tomorrow. As they settled into their bed and began to sleep, they had a feeling that tomorrow would be an interesting day.


	5. Carnival carnage

_A/N Hey everyone! Nothing to say. Enjoy._

**Chapter 5: Carnival carnage**

Mike's morning was an interesting one. Point of fact, it was a painful one. Here he was, deep in a peaceful slumber, when he was violently jostled awake by the weight of his sister crashing down on him.

"Wake up!" She bellowed. "It's carnival day!" She bounced on him with each word, knocking more and more air out of him. He groaned and pushed her over.

"Star... Couldn't you wake me up more normally? I don't think my body can take much more of it..." He said as he held his sides. She rolled her eyes and tossed his clothes at him.

"Just get dressed crybaby. Marco's taking us to the carnival and he's gonna show you all the cool stuff they have." Mike wiped what was left of the sleep from his eyes and groggily nodded as she left for him to get dressed. Not too long after, he was out of his room wearing his usual getup.

"You guys know it'll be better to go in the afternoon, right?" Marco asked.

"..." Mike glared at Star for waking him so early, which she gave a halfhearted apology for. Mike groaned and took a seat on the couch. Marco and Star joined him and decided to kill time by watching T.V.

Later

They walked up to the entrance while Mike and Star gazed in awe. It wasn't Star's first time, but it never ceased to take her breath away. Mike was amazed by all the lights and sights and smells and just the general atmosphere of the place. There were rides and treats and shows and just so much he wanted to do and partake in. But first, he had to get past the gate. This was easy seeing as how they simply needed to pay a few dollars and get their hands stamped. Mike studied the small animal printed in ink on his hand for a few moments before he got bored and decided to look around.

"So..." Marco started. "What do you guys wanna do first-" As soon as the words left his mouth, he was bombarded with suggesting from the siblings and was nearly torn in half by them, trying to drag him to their own destination. Ultimately, they decided on going where Star wanted to go, because her coercion- and hug/crushing- skills proved too much for Mike. The Ferris wheel was an all-time favorite of Star's, so it was their first stop in the many they would make that night. She loved it so much because it allowed her to see for miles of the beautiful town she called home. The sunset mixed with the nightlight of Echo Creek make it look so pretty. She could stare at it for hours if she could. But alas, the ride was over before she knew it. Of course, this didn't stop her from forcing the boys to ride with her several dozen more times. After she had gotten her fill with the Ferris wheel, it was time for Mike to decide where to go next. He studied the surrounding area for a moment before pointing to the bumper cars. They all thought it was a fun idea and decided to do it. They stepped into their individual carts and started driving around and playfully bonking into each other.

"This reminds me of when we went unicorn jousting." Mike said with a chuckle. Star giggled.

"Mom and dad were so mad."

"Probably because you nearly took my eye."

"What?!" Marco exclaimed. Star waived her hand at her bestie.

"Relaaaaaax. I just nicked his eyebrow."

"I was bleeding for nearly half an hour-" Mike started to reply, but Star bumped into him with her cart.

"Details, details. Besides, you got your revenge many times over." Star said. Mike laughed and nodded as the trio continued their fun. A few minutes into the ride, Star felt her dress getting messed with. She quickly looked to see a small monster reaching for her wand. At the same time, Marco and Mike saw a huge, menacing cart come hurtling their way. The driver of the cart; was Ludo.

"I told you I'd be back for that wand girl!" He bellowed as he tried to ram into the boys. They dodged, but only barely. They quickly looked at Star, who delivered a swift kick to the face of her would-be thief. The small monster was sent flying into Ludo, who crashed out of the ride and into the open. Star, seeing how it wasn't fair that he was able to ride outside of the safe zone, decided to magically modify her, Mike, and Marco's carts. Once Ludo had regained control of his cart, he looked just in time to see a trio of huge, beefed out carts that were painted with rainbow colors. The choice of fashion wasn't to Mike's taste, but a suped up cart was still a suped up cart. He and the others grinned wickedly at Ludo. Ludo was too scared and shocked to respond as the trio flipped a switch on their carts, activating magical thrusters that hurttled their carts forward, leaving a rainbow and sparkle trail. Ludo closed his eyes in defeat as his cart was obliterated and he and his henchmen were sent flying out of the park and landing into a bush. Star, Marco, and Mike laughed at their easy victory and apologized to the shocked worker who witnessed the whole ordeal. Star left them the cart as she walked away to find new attractions with her brother and friend. They joked and laughed about what just happened as they continued to have undisturbed fun. Meanwhile, Ludo was grumbling and pulling himself together while pulling leaves and twigs out of his clothes.

"Stupid girl... stupid boy... stupid stupid stupid..." He muttered. Then, a voice from nearby addressed him.

"You hate them too, huh?" The voice said. Ludo snapped his head behind him and looked for the source but found none.

"Who's there?! Show yourself!" He commanded.

"Relax... I have a proposition that could land you a certain wand you so desperately want." The voice responded. Ludo was silent for a moment.

"...Go on." Ludo said. Just then, a dark figure walked out from the darkness and gave Ludo an equally dark grin.

"I knew you'd come around." Sledge said with a chuckle.


	6. Back to school

_A/N Hello again! Still nothing to say other than please leave your comments below if you have any to help me make sure I'm doing a good job. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 6: Back to School**

Mike groaned as he penciled in his name onto his papers. His weekend was one of fun and merry with the help of his sister and best friend. The rest of the carnival was a blast so they decided to spend the entire next day there was well. He was not unhappy with that decision. He got to know a bit more about Marco and Earth culture, current events and whatnot. He was mostly uninterested in politics and wars and the economy. What got him worked up was this thing called 'the internet'. Star expressed her glee upon discovering the internet, especially the sites that held the fabled cat photos and begged Marco to take them use his computer at some point. He agreed, but he made it very clear to make sure to be careful on the web. He warned that it wasn't always safe, but Star was frothing out of the mouth with thoughts of cats so she heard next to none of the warnings. Marco sighed and decided to just accompany them whenever they got their hands on a computer. Long story short, their weekend was fun. However, weekends soon come to a close, and a new week takes hold. Unfortunately, his week started with detention that would last for three days due to recent events.

"What a way to start my experiences with earth schooling..." He mumbled to himself. The teacher shushed him. He sighed and snuck a peak at Star and Marco, who were separated by one cubical each from each other. In their efforts to prevent inequality, the school inadvertently discriminated the innocent. But, such is life. Thankfully, Sledge was not here today. Most likely skipping school until his detention was over. Little did he know, Mike overheard that his detention sentence was still in affect until he paid his dues. He chuckled at the thought, but was then silenced by his teacher again. He looked back to his mounds of paperwork, enough to keep him busy for the next three days for sure.

"Be thankful, kid." The teacher said. "This detention doesn't prevent you from going to homecoming." Mike raised an eyebrow at the teacher. Marco noticed his curiosity

"It's like..." Marco thought for a moment on how to wore his sentence for Mike to understand. "A ball." He finished. "It's hosted by the school. There's dancing, games, food, all sorts of good stuff-" Marco was then violently shushed by the teacher again. They shook their heads and went back to work.

Later

It was now time for lunch and the trio was let loose, but was warned to come right back after eating. They nodded to the teacher and ran off to the cafeteria to get some delicious, delicious pizza. Star and Marco found their usual spot and brought up a chair for Mike to join.

"Try some." Star said to Mike as he eyeballed his pizza questioningly.

"Why does this look so... Complicated?" Mike said. He poked it experimentally with a fork. The pizza did not react.

"Ah, don't be a baby. Just try it. See? It's yummy." To demonstrate her point, Star took a big bite out of her slice, chewed it, then swallowed. Mike, seeing as how she wasn't poisoned and died, decided that maybe it wasn't so unsafe to eat. He took an experimental bite. "Well?" Star asked. Mike chewed for a few moments then swallowed.

"Him... Not bad really. Kinda wet though..."

"Wet? Nah, that's just grease." Marco explained.

"How do you fit a country on a pizza slice?" Star asked with a cocked head.

"No Star, grease is a descriptive term for oil." Stars eyes bugged out.

"There's oil in this pizza?!" Marco facepalmed.

"No!" Marco then quickly went into detail about how cooking oil is different from ground oil, and how Greece was different from grease. Meanwhile, Mike sipped on his apple juice with utter confusion.

"Uh huh... So, what's this about a homecoming?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

"Basically what I said before, games, dancing, cool stuff like that." Marco said.

"Oh. Are you too gonna dance?" Mike asked Star and Marco. The two went a bit red at that suggestion.

"O-oh... W-we're not uh... Dating." Star said while stuttering.

"You aren't?" Mike questioned.

"Yea... We were kinda soul mates a while ago due to the blood moon, but eh... That kinda came and went so..." Marco said while rubbing his neck.

"Oh..." Mike replied. He admitted, Star looked like she paired better with Marco. "Better than her ex, anyway..." He mumbled to himself. He shook his head, forgetting him and trying to elude the awkwardness he accidentally caused. He began talking about the carnival and Ludo, which seemed to knock them out of their funk. They talked about the fun weekend they had up until it was time for them to return to return to detention. They sighed sadly and slugged their way back to detention. But as they were walking, someone from outside was looking in at them.

"Yes... Soon... Soon I'll have you right where I want you..." The ominous figure grinned wickedly as he rubbed his hands together. He eyed the trio as they walked into the detention class, but just before they went in, he saw Mike suddenly freeze for a moment, as if he knew he was being watched. Mike slowly turned just in time to see a figure slink away into the darkness. Mike narrowed his eyes but said nothing. Mike rationalized that it was probably just a kid playing hide and seek outside. Before Mike could give it any more thought, he was dragged inside by the teacher, threatening him with more detention if he gave him any more trouble.


	7. Strange things

_A/N Hello everyone! Nothing to say again. Except, Rest In Peace grumpy cat. Rest in peace. You gave us great meme material over the years and we all will miss you._

**Chapter 7: Strange things...**

Mike was laying below Star, dying. He looked up weakly at her crying face and held it in his hands.

"Mike..." She cried with a sniffle. "What do I do? Please, tell me what to do." She begged, hoping she can save him.

"Star..." He replied after a few raspy breaths. "There's nothing that can be done..."

"No..." She whimpered. "You gotta... We can... I could..." She choked back tears. "What. Do I. Do?" She said again. Mike gave her a small, weak smile.

"I finally rest..." He looked up at the dawn of a new day." I watch the sunrise one last time on this universe..." He then looked at Star. "But you... Need to live on..." He squeezed her hand one last time before he slipped away. Star cried out in emotional agony as she buried her face in his chest. However, her mourning was interrupted by a menacing laugh. Star's tears of sadness were replaced with tears of rage. That was the laugh of the monster who killed her brother.

"I'll give him one thing," the voice said. "He went down with a fight." The person stepped towards Star. She seethed at him.

"Marco..." She said with venom. "You monster... You traitor!" She growled and stood up angrily.

"Yes... It is I! I have bested Mike and now I will-" He was suddenly silenced once his arm was blasted off. "Um..." His other arm was then blasted off. He looked at Star in shock. Star, meanwhile, snarled as she pumped her shotgun and aimed at Marco's head.

"We win." She muttered as she blasted him into oblivion. Suddenly, a triumphant trumpet sounded and words of victory were plastered over the screen. In the real world, Star threw her controller into the air and as it landed on the bed, Star jumped around happily while hooting her victory to her team, who were also cheering. "Woo hoo! Winners!" Star shouted. Marco chuckled and spoke into his headset.

"Good job Ferguson, Alfonzo. We'll get 'em next time."

"You did good, man." Ferguson said.

"Good game guys. Star, Mike, you did good for newbs." Marco's friends signed offline as he did the same.

"You guys have fun?" Marco asked Mike and Star.

"Yep. Except where you killed Mike." Star said. Mike smiled.

"Thanks Star-" He began, but Star wasn't finished.

"Because I wanted to." Mike stared at her then glared as she giggled. Marco chuckled.

"What about you, Mike? You still skeptical?"

"Meh." Mike began. "I'm still not entirely sure how all that... Online stuff works... But I can see myself getting used to it."

"That's good. You guys had great acting too, by the way." They thanked Marco, to which he smiled, but then it faltered after he looked out his window.

"Marco?" Star said to her bestie. He didn't respond. "Uh..." She waived her hand in his face. Only then did he simply point outside. Mike and Star looked to where he was pointing. What they saw made their eyes widen. Outside, littering the streets, were portals. And coming out of those portals? Monsters. Beasts. Ghouls and other manner of creature. They were terrorizing the streets but it didn't seem like they had gotten to the main town yet. The trio looked at each other and nodded. They rushed outside and skidded to a halt as they came face to face with a grotesque monster. Half it's body mass was gone but it still seemed to function. He looked at them with a face that was half missing and growled at them and spat green goo at them. They dodged it, but the asphalt below them wasn't so lucky. It bubbled and hissed as it was corroded away. They slowly looked at the acidic beast and screamed at is readied another attack. Marco kicked it in what was left of it's stomach and it fell down. Half of it's body landed in a portal, at that point Mike got an idea.

"Star, try to close the portal!" He yelled. Star nodded and tried, to great success. It closed with ease but also sliced the monster in half. But it was far from done. The lower body of the monster slowly rose and began walking towards them as the green go oozed out of it. Their eyes widened as they strategically retreated only to be met by an arm of monsters. Thankfully, the local police showed up and managed to barricade the neighborhood, preventing the monsters from escaping. However, there was a lot of monsters and even more portals. Not to mention there were civilians scattered all around screaming in panic. The trio realized what they had to do.

"Ok, Marco, help me with the monsters, knock them into portals and I'll close them." Star then looked at Mike. "Bro, gather up anyone in the streets and get them somewhere safe." Mike nodded.

"I'm on it. I don't like fighting anyway." He wished them luck and ran off towards whoever he could and escorted them to their houses. Star then looked at Marco. "You ready?" Marco nodded.

"You know I am." He replied. So together, they fought the monsters. They were tough, but they managed to knock them into the portals and seal them faster than they could emerge. They were doing well on crowd control but something was bugging Star. However, she couldn't let that distract her from her task. As fast as Marco could knock them in, Star was closing portals. Star looked over and saw that Mike was doing a good job keeping everyone safe and locked inside. She smiled knowing that this would be fixed soon, and it was. It took some time, but eventually, all the monsters were gone and portals closed. After all was said and done, the local police issued and all clear and that it was safe to come back out. The police did a sweep of the area to make sure no one was hurt and all portals closed. Meanwhile, Mike met up with Star and Marco.

"What was that?" Mike said.

"I have no idea." Marco replied. "Maybe it was Ludo, causing chaos or something. What do you think Star?" Marco looked and saw that she was deep in thought. "Star?" He repeated.

"No..." She said. "Not Ludo."

"Huh? What do you mean, sis?" Mike asked.

"It wasn't Ludo. These portals... They closed too easily. Ludo would have went all out. No... This defiantly wasn't him." She said.

"Then who?" Marco asked.

"I don't know..." She replied. They continued to discuss the subject until Marco's parents arrived and scooped them up in a hug. They exclaimed how worried they were while the trio insisted they were OK. After proving they had all their limbs, the Diaz's were content and decided it was time to go home and rest. They defiantly needed it so they didn't resist. But then... Mike saw something. It was the closing flash of a portal. It was half a second, but he saw someone in there. He couldn't identify them, but he saw it. Someone was watching them... But he was simply too tired to process it. This was another problem for another day.


	8. Portal predicaments

_A/N Hello, hello, hello! How are all of you? Good? I hope so. Please tell me how I'm doing. I love feedback but haven't been getting a whole lot of it. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 8: Portal predicaments**

Mike awoke with a yawn and a stretch. He felt refreshed, well rested, and not groggy. This was not good at all. Mike scanned the area. Nothing.

"Uh... Star?" He called out. He received no reply. So, getting dressed, he left his room and wandered around. He looked downstairs and saw that Mr.. and Mrs.. Diaz was out of town. They seemed to have left early. "Hmm..." He went upstairs and knocked on his sisters door. "Star?" He called. No answer. Strange. He opened the door and entered her room. There she was, deep asleep and curled up. She was out like a light and dead to the world. So, naturally, he had to wake her up. Mike inhaled. "STAR! WAKE YOUR PRINCESS BOOTY UP!" Star suddenly jerked awake while sputtering sleepy nonsense. When she finally composed herself, she saw hee brother standing there. Awake. Energized. It was then she realized what was wrong, and she screamed.

"Ah!" In Marco's room, Marco woke with a start at the sound of Star's screaming. He quickly rushed to Star's room. "Star! Star are you OK?" He scanned the area and saw Star scrambling to get dressed. He blushed a bit but then he assessed the situation. Star was getting dressed, but Mike was dressed. Meaning Star didn't wake Mike up. Meaning Star slept in, causing Himself to sleep in. This all means one thing... "WE'RE LATE FOR SCHOOL!" He exclaimed.

Later

"We won't make it in time!" Mike exclaimed. They were far too late to run home, the Diaz's weren't there to take them, they were toast.

"We're gonna miss detention... Oh no..." Marco worried. He began to panic. Saying how missing this will lead to more punishment, that'll lead to flunking school, he'll live under a bridge and eat rock soup. Star slapped him to snap him out it.

"Ease up, safeboy. I have a plan." Star said. Marco cocked his head as she grinned wickedly.

"...Star?"

"Hehehe." Stars mischievous giggling unsettled Marco. Nothing good came of that laugh and what she pulled out of her pouch confirmed his fears. "Dimensional scissors." She stated as she began to snip.

"Star, I don't think this is such a good idea." Marco said.

"Yea Star. You're skill with the scissors are... subpar at best-" Mike added, but was interrupted.

"Hush. I know what I'm doing." She replied as she snipped away. A tear in the space in front of them formed and showed and awaited them.

"Star..." Marco began, but she grabbed their arms and jumped in.

Somewhere

Star looked around. She was... She wasn't quite sure where. It wasn't Earth. Certainly not the school. It was outlandish and had many craters, but was still lavish with strange plants, trees, and other flora.

"Ugh..." Marco groaned as he sat up and looked around. "Where...?"

"No clue." Mike said, also scanning the area. "Hmm... Doesn't match anything royal scouts have found." Marco groaned again, but this time out of frustration.

"Star... I told you..."

"Sorry Marco... I thought I had it under control-" Suddenly, Star was interrupted by a bloodcurdling screech. The trio stiffened as their blood ran cold.

"I don't think we're alone..." Mike stated as he looked for the source of the sound.

"Star, can you get us out of here?" Marco asked as he and Mike stepped closer to her.

"U-uh... S-sure..." Star pulled out her scissors and tried snipping at the air, but nothing happened. "Um..." She tried again, then again. But nothing. She started to panic as she looked at the scissors and saw that a screw was loose. "Whew... It's a simple fix..." She began tightening the screw, but then it started raining. "Hmm... Odd." She ignores it and continued working. Then she felt Mike and Marco tap her. "Stop it. I'm working on this." She kept working.

"S-S-Star? We really need t-t-to go." Marco said.

"Give me a minute."

"L-l-like, right now." Mike added. Star groaned and looked at them and saw them looking up with eyes wide with fear. She cocked her head but then slowly looked up when she realized just how gooey the 'rain' was. Her blood drained from her face as she beheld the most horrific monster she had ever laid eyes on. The creatures body was mostly diseased and rotted away, with only the bare minimum to give locomotion. It looked malnourished, which would explain only plant life here. It was huge and it's feet sunk into the soft dirt below it. The craters were its resting places. It had a single eye fixed in the center of it's head and just below it was a half-missing but still fully functional pair of jaws with razor sharp teeth. It growled at her. "Eep..." Was all she managed to let out before it was followed by her own scream. Mike and Marco tackled her out of harms way. They all scrambled to their feet as the monster prepared another attack. Star blasted it with a flurry of flowers, which dazed it and gave them some time to escape. They ran in a zig-zag motion trying to evade the beast as Star did her best to slow it down with her magic. Eventually, they found a narrow cave. They dove into it and, due to the monsters massive size, bashed into it. It whined with what was left of it's vocals but then it noticed that chunks of the cave gave way. The monster had an idea... and the trio noticed this.

"Star, if you're gonna fix that, do it now!" Mike said as the creature began headbutting the cave, damaging its skull severely but also collapsing the cave. Star fumbled to fix the loose screw, but the stress was causing her to slip up. Marco and Star could do nothing but watch as the creature fractured its head trying to get at them. Suddenly, the creature broke through to them and lunged, but Marco was quick. He grabbed Stars wand and watched it quickly morph to him, he then sent a volley of boulders at the beast, knocking back and crushing its bones. But the creature was far from dead. It struggled it's way to them, but thankfully Star fixed the scissors and opened a portal. Without thinking, she grabbed the boys and jumped in just as the creature lunged again.

Earth

The trio were heavily panting with fear and exhaustion.

"Never... Again..." Mike said between breaths.

"No... Arguing there... Brother..." Star replied.

"So..." A new voice said to them. The trio looked up and saw a familiar, yet unwanted face.

"Oh no..." Marco mumbled as the person grinned.

"So," He repeated. "It looks like anyone can use that wand."


	9. Echo creek- after hours

_A/N Hello everyone! Welcome to another chapter. It might get a bit graphic, just as a heads up. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 9: Echo creek- after hours**

"None of your business..." Star said as she stood and dusted herself off. Sledge laughed.

"Calm down girly. No need be so hostile. Curiosity never hurt anyone." Sledge grinned wickedly at Star and her wand. She held it to her chest defensively. "Anyway, you guys ready for the last day of detention? Boy was it awful."

to

"You weren't even there for it." Mike retorted. But before Sledge could reply, the school bells rang, signaling that all kids should head to class. In their case, detention. Sledge gave them one last grin before heading to detention. The trio looked at each other nervously before following suit.

Later

The trio decided to celebrate the end of detention by getting something to eat at a diner. Sledge was oddly quiet during detention. But they paid no mind to this. They just wanted to enjoy their hard-earned food in peace. It was delicious and they got milkshakes after, but it was getting dark and they had to head home. They paid the bill and started heading home through the town.

"Thanks for the treats Marco." Star said as she patted her belly. Marco chuckled.

"It was my treat, guys."

"So am I able to find out what normal school is like tomorrow?" Mike asked jokingly. Star and Marco laughed as they continued walking. All was going well until they passed a dark alley. They were suddenly dragged into it and slammed against a wall. Mike tried to retaliate, but a swift knee to the gut knocked the wind out of him. He attempted to recover but three more swift blows to his body drained him of his energy quickly. Last, he was forced against a wall and he only had enough time to see a dark figure's foot dig itself into his gut. The force, combined with the other attacks caused him to spit up a bit of blood. His head was ringing, but he could clearly hear his sister crying out, as well as deep, heavy, sadistic laughter from his attacker. He struggled to look up, but his assailant grabbed him by the hair and yanked his head up so he could see. "Sledge..." He mumbled weakly. The wide, crooked grin he got from the kid was far from sane.

"What, freak? Did you miss my beatings? I made sure I kicked your ass this time." Sledge let go of Mike's hair only to backhand him, sending Mike to the ground on his side. Sledge gave Mike one last solid kick to the stomach. At the same time, Marco tried to come up to Sledge from behind and attack him, but Sledge was too fast. Sledge turned around and grabbed Marco by the throat, lifted him up, and slammed him into the ground. Marco's air was totally knocked out of him and was left gasping on the ground. Sledge prepared to kick Marco, but Star send a beam at Sledge that nearly missed his head. Sledge quickly turned and glared at her. Star tried to do another spell, but Sledge punched her right in the face She was knocked down and tried to crawl away with Marco while clutching the wand tight in her hands. Tears started to roll down Star's cheeks as Sledge started approaching them. He laughed darkly as they backed themselves into a wall. "I'm gonna enjoy this..." He licked his bloody fist and moaned.

"You're crazy!" Star exclaimed. Sledge simply grinned in reply as he began to raise his fist, but Mike got in the way. Bloody and beaten, Mike saw his best friend and sister being attacked by this insane teen. He used what little strength he had to put himself between Sledge and the others.

"Look who's back for more. Gotta say, I'm impressed you're still standing." Sledge said. Mike simply stared at him. Sledge glared at his silence and swung, but Mike dodged, causing Sledge to drive his fist into a nearby glass, impaling his fist and cutting deep. He howled in pain then glared at Mike with the look of a madman. Mike wasn't able to dodge the next attack. Even worse, was that his fist was covered in glass as he hit Mike. Mike's feet stayed planted where they stood but his torso was twisted back from the impact so that he was now facing Marco and Star. They saw Mike's face... Bloody, scratched, beaten. His eyes were closed from the impact of the punch. But then he opened his eyes, and they flashed green again, but was gone in an instant. But this time, they both saw it. Mike, using the momentum of him being twisted away from Sledge, swung his fist right into his jaw. The powerful force rattled Sledge's skull as he crashed head-first into a wall. He was out like a light. Mike stood, breathing heavily, body shaking. Marco and Star slowly stood.

"Mike...?" Marco said.

"Bro?" Star added. Mike slowly turned to them. He looked so beaten... So weak... But he smiled when he saw that they were OK. They started to smile back, but then Mike began to collapse on the ground. Thankfully, They caught him and held him up.

"We need to get him to a hospital." Marco said. Star nodded.

"And we need the police. This is more than just a bully. This was an attempted murder." Star added as she glared at Sledge's body. They started by taking Mike to the hospital. They would call the police after.

Later

Ludo looked at the heap of human on the ground and rolled his eyes.

"Figures..." He heard sirens in the distance. "Fine then. I'll do it myself." He glared at Sledge one last time before using his dimensional scissors and snipping himself away from the scene. But soon after, Sledge began to wake up, and be heard a voice in his head. His eyes shot open and his eyes glowed a demonic red.


	10. Bedside manners

_A/N Hello all! Another Friday, another chapter. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 10: Bedside manners**

Star burst into the hospital and rushed to the front desk while Marco helped Mike in. Mike could barely stand and Marco couldn't get the bleeding in his face to stop. Marco remembered in health class the head wounds bled a lot... But was this amount normal when the damage was caused by glass? He looked at the napkins he got from the diner and saw that they went from chalk white to crimson red.

"Star, hurry up!" Marco called out. The blonde teen shot a look at him.

"I'm trying!" She then glared at the girl behind the desk, who was being difficult. "Listen, my brother got attacked by a maniac, instead of asking stupid questions, how about you get him a doctor!" The lady sunk into her seat a bit while nodding. She called in a doctor and a stretcher. Star thanked the girl and assisted Marco into lifting Mike onto the stretcher.

"Star... Marco... W-where...?" Mike looked around with the one eye that wasn't covered in blood. Star shushed him.

"Shh... It's alright. You're at a hospital."

"Hos... Pital...?" Star nodded. Soon, a doctor and a few nurses got ahold of Mike and took him to the emergency room. Star and Marco attempted to follow, but they were quickly told that they had to stay in the waiting room. Reluctantly, they complied.

Later

The duo waited anxiously for what felt like hours. In reality, it was only 15 minutes. Their heads shot up when they heard the door to Mike's room open and a nurse walk out calmly.

"He's going to be OK." She said. Marco and Star sighed with relief. "It's astonishing actually. His body is... Well, amazing. We saw signs of internal bleeding, but they seemed to have healed. And as soon as we removed the glass shards from his head, the cuts began sealing at a remarkable rate." Star nodded. She knew this already, which prompted Marco to give her a look. "You're able to go in there, but don't expect any conversation. He suffered a lot of trauma." The duo nodded and headed into Mike's room. Star sniffled a bit as she saw her brother unconscious on the bed. He had bandages on his head from the glass and an IV was being fed into him to keep him hydrated. Star pulled up a seat and held his hand.

"Mike... Michael..." She sniffed and kissed his hand. She then heard Marco pull up a chair next to her.

"He did it to protect us." Marco said in a comforting tone. Star nodded.

"He's always been protective..." She chuckled a bit, lightly. "Annoyingly so." Marco smiled. She seemed to have calmed down and a bit of her bubbly personality was coming back. "Mike... Did I ever tell you the time he and Tom jousted?" Marco lit up.

"Do tell." He said enthusiastically. Star laughed.

"It was hilarious. See, Mike never liked Tom." Star thought for a moment. "Come to think of it he never liked any of my boyfriends... Anyway, Mike challenged Tom to a joust. They each got a unicorn and a jousting spear. They stood at opposite ends of the field. Then? They charged."

"What happened next?"

"They both hit each other!" Star said with a chuckle. "They just went-" Star made impact followed by a short whistle and a splat noise. "Then, Mike just stood up, dusted himself off, and carried on his way."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." She confirmed. Marco laughed.

"You got a pretty cool brother."

"Yea. I know. I could go on and on about his antics."

"I could listen all night." Marco said as he turned his chair to her. Star grinned and did the same. She leaned forward in her chair as she told Marco stories of his and her 'legendary' misadventures. Time swept by as Marco listened to her. He smiled at her as she spoke. He laughed when she waved her hands around dramatically when she explained. He was just so amazed with her. But then he had a question that had been bothering him for a while.

"Hey Star, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot." She replied.

"How is Mike so... Yea know? Durable. He shouldn't have been able to take that punishment like he did." Star shrugged.

"He's always been like that. I asked him about it and he said that people are stronger than what they think they are... I think he's just a stubborn hardheaded." She added with a giggle. Marco chuckled along with her and ended the laughter with a sigh. They looked at Mike, who seemed to be resting peacefully. They then looked at each other. Marco rubbed his neck.

"I was scared..." Marco said. Star nodded.

"Me too... Who knows what he could have done to us." Marco shook his head.

"No... I wasn't scared of him..." He started. "I was scared of... Of..." Marco faltered a bit. Star cocked her head a bit.

"Marco?" Marco looked at her. He took a deep breath and, taking a bold leap, took her hand gently in his. Star got a bit flustered and looked at Marco.

"I was scared... Of losing you." He finished. Star blushed a bit, but didn't pull her hand away.

"I... I was scared too... For the same reason..." She said. Marco beamed a bit, with his own blush coming on.

"Y-you were?" She nodded.

"Yea, I-I mean, besties always care for one another... Right?" She said. Marco nodded.

"Y-yea... Yea..." There was a short silence between them. They looked at each other for a few moments. Before either knew what happened, their lips were connected in a tender kiss. They were a bit startled by this, but neither wanted it to end. The kiss deepened and lasted forever to them. They quickly pulled apart once they heard Mike stir in his sleep. They blushed madly at each other as what they just did sunk in. For so long they had just been besties, until the blood moon came along. But that wasn't true love to them. But... The curse was broken... This wasn't a romance set upon them by any celestial object or curse, this... Was straight and true. Though the kiss had ended, they were still connected at the hands. The young couple gave each other a small squeeze as they waited for Mike to awaken.


	11. Friend or foe?

_A/N Hello ladies and gentlemen. How'd you like that Starco moment? I know I did. But I want it to be known that the canon of their relationship will be up to YOU: the reader. You'll understand why in later chapters._

**Chapter 11: Friend or foe?**

Star and Marco were snuggled under a blanket. It's been a day since the incident and Mike hadn't woke up yet. Ralph and Angie both visited as soon as they heard the news and allowed Star and Marco to stay as long as they wanted. The school was informed ahead of time that the three of them wouldn't be attending. The school understood and gave them all excused abscesses. Sledge went missing, which concerned Star and Marco, but they felt safe in the hospital. There were two officers outside Mike's room and he was on the second floor of the hospital. Sledge wasn't getting near them without a lot of obstacle. Marco stirred in his sleep a bit and woke up. He saw Star hugging his chest and he smiled. He patted her head and sighed contently. He thought it was so peaceful now. Mike was recovering and Star was deep asleep. All in all, things were looking up. Or so he thought. Marco heard a slight commotion outside of his window. He squinted but saw nothing in the dark. So, being as gentle as he could be, he removed Star's arms from him. She whimpered as he left for the window.

"Hmm..." Marco looked around some more but still saw nothing. He shrugged and blamed lack of sleep. He went to lie back down with Star, but then the wall behind him exploded in brilliant light and chaos, which made Marco fall and Star to jerk out of her chair so hard she fell to the floor as well.

"At last! I got you right where I want you!" The voice belonged to Ludo.

"Ludo?! What are you doing here?" Star said as she quickly rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"I'm here for the wand of course! After my henchman failed to subdue you, I realized I had to take matters into my own hands!" He cackled evilly, but was then sucker punched in the jaw by Star. The force rattled his brain as he was sent into a daze. "YOU SENT SLEDGE AFTER MIKE?!" Star bellowed with seething anger. Ludo rubbed his sore face and shot a glare at her.

"Of course I did! I gave him the simple job of pacifying you, but he clearly failed!" Star shot a glare right back at him.

"Subdue? Pacify?!" She jabbed her thumb towards Mike. "What does THAT look like?!" Ludo looked at Mike and he felt his heart sink.

"That's the work of the pychopath you hired. He wasn't trying to take us down, he was going to take us out." Marco explained.

"No... That's not what he said he'd do..." Ludo said with shock. He was in total disbelief. He wanted the wand, sure, but he'd never result to such violence.

"Well, he did do that. That's on you." Star kept her glare up at the short villain.

"No, you have to understand, I never wanted this." Ludo pleaded as he tore his regret-ridden eyes from Mike. "I'll do anything to fix this mistake." Marco raised an eyebrow.

"Why help us?"

"Because. I still want the wand, but it isn't worth killing for it." He stated. There was merit to his words.

"So... Truce?" Star said as she offered her hand. Ludo nodded and took her hand.

"Truce." They smiled at each other for a few moments.

"So... What do we do then?" Marco asked.

"We gotta stop Sledge of course. He's still on the loose." Star replied.

"But how? How do we find him?"

"I may have an idea." Ludo quipped. They looked at him. "You see, I always throw caution to the wind with my new recruits. A tracker. I can pin him down at my hideout then we'll hunt him down from there."

"Sounds good. But... What about Mike?" Star said as she looked at her sleeping brother.

"The officer outside. He'll protect him. He has a gun. Even Sledge isn't that stupid." Marco replied.

"Is it settled then?" Ludo asked. They nodded. Star then walked over to Mike and kisses his forehead.

"We'll be back soon, brother." Star walked over to Ludo. He produced dimensional scissors from his robes and snipped the fabrics of reality. Giving one last look to the room, they jumped in.

Later

"There?" Star asked as she pointed.

"Yes. And he isn't moving. Perfect. He'll be a sitting duck for us to swoop down on."

"Well, lets not waste any time, then. This man is dangerous, remember?" Marco said. They nodded and raced off to the warehouse Sledge was hiding in. Of course, the warehouse was full, but they didn't care. They'd tear every box open until they found him. Thankfully, Stars magic helped them do just that. Unfortunately, Sledge was nowhere to be found.

"Wha...? How? It said he was right here!" Star said as she kicked a box.

"He is! The tracker doesn't lie!" Ludo paused for a moment. "Unless..."

"Unless? Unless what?" Marco said. Ludo walked towards a nearby trash can and searched it. He found nothing at first, but then he looked just beside it. Marco and Star saw him stiffen then pick up something.

"...Ludo...? What did you find?" Star asked, worry growing in her voice. Ludo simply turned around and showed them a small red bead: his tracker.

"Oh no..." Marco said.

"That means..." Star added. They looked at each other in horror as they broke into a mad sprint back to the hospital. When they got there... Their fears were confirmed: The guard in front of Mike's room was beaten within an inch of his life and his gun was gone. Ludo and Marco quickly went to find a doctor. Meanwhile, Star carefully stepped over the guard and into Mike's room. "Brother..?" She started as she entered the dark room. She turned on the light. "Mike...?" She looked at his bed and saw that it was vacant, and the window was open. Her eyes widened and she screamed into the night. "MICHAEL!"


	12. Living nightmare

_A/N Greetings and good tidings friends! Nothing to say right now. Enjoy._

**Chapter 12: Living nightmare**

Star was pacing the room madly while Ludo and Marco tried to calm her down. After nearly, and quite literally, turning the hospital inside out, Star raced home and searched the house for Mike, thinking he had woken up while they were gone and went home. After ripping open closets, searching rooms, and checking the roof, she safely concluded that Mike was indeed gone. And quite possibly, in danger. She kept pacing Mike's room while Marco tried to rationalize with her.

"Star, listen. We can find him, but we need to calm down first."

"He's gone. He's gone. He's gone. He's gone." She repeated to herself, like a mantra.

"Star!" Marco called.

"He's gone. He's gone. He's gone." Marco groaned and shook her violently.

"Star! Snap out of it!" When he stopped shaking her, her eyes rolled around lazily in her skull. She shook her head to correct this.

"S-sorry... I'm just so worried..." She sniffled. Marco wiped a tear from her eye and held her face.

"I know... We all are... But we're gonna fix this. We're gonna find him and he'll be OK. I promise." Marco said with a smile. Star looked up at him and smiled back. However, Ludo rolled his eyes.

"Enough of the sappy stuff! Now, I have a plan." The teens looked at him.

"A plan? Please! Tell us!" Star said.

"Well, this... Sledge. He isn't normal." Marco cocked his head.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I keep tabs on you two-" Ludo started.

"Pervert." Star replied.

"And I noticed an anomaly at certain points. Every now and again, it would pop up and then just... Disappear." Star and Marco thought for a few moments.

"Mike did mention he felt like he was being followed..." Star remembered.

"Yea... At school and after the portals opened. Wait... You don't think that...?"

"No doubt it was Sledge." Star replied. "But the question is... How?"

"No clue. But one thing is certain, he's dangerous and unpredictable. Now, I think I have a way to find him, if nothing else." Ludo explained. "We just have to-" Before Ludo could finish his sentence, the ceiling above them caved in and crushed him. He never stood a chance. While Marco and Star stood their dumbfounded at the fate of their old enemy, someone descended from the hole in the ceiling and grinned at them. Marco and Star stumbled back.

"N-no..." Star mumbled in fear. Marco put his arm over Star, shielding her from harm.

"Yes..." The person hissed venomously. Their eyes gleamed under the moonlight with devious intent and their toothy smile showed no signs of sanity. "Oh... How I've waited for this moment..." The person said with a smile while licking their lips. Star and Marco scooted away.

"Stay. Away." Star said defiantly. "Sledge." Sledge smirked at her.

"You got spunk, princess... I can admire that. It'll make what I'm about to do so much sweeter..." While Sledge and Star were talking, Marco inched his hand towards Star's wand. However, Sledge saw this and stomped on Marco's hand just as he grabbed the wand. The sickening crack and crunch of bone nearly made Star throw up. Marco yelped in pain and tried to get his hand free, which prompted Sledge to twist his foot on the broken hand. Once Marco's hand had lost feeling, Sledge removed his foot and grabbed the wand out of Marco's grasp. Star pulled Marco to herself and held him. She then glared at Sledge.

"You're a monster!" Sledge laughed and threw her wand out the window. Star gulped as he knelt beside her.

"You're absolutely right, princess. I am a monster. Your monster. I'm what you hide from under your covers every night. I'm the shadow moving in the dark corners of dark rooms. I'm your worst nightmare come true." Sledge laughed more as he grabbed Marco and repeatedly punched him in the face.

"Stop!" Star reared her fist back and punched Sledge in the face, but he shrugged it off and backhanded her hard. Star fell down, now with a red hand mark on her cheek, overlapping her heart shapes. She rubbed it and snuffled, but she wouldn't go down that easily. She lunged at Sledge's feet and knocked him down. Sledge dropped Marco, who was beaten and completely unconscious. Admittedly, Sledge was taken aback by her defiance. But then he rolled his eyes and kicked her off of him. Star, again, not willing to go down easily, lunged at Sledge once more, but he was ready. He grabbed her by the throat out of mid air and squeezed hard.

"Feisty... I like it..." He watched as she gasped for breath under his crushing pressure. "Oh... I'm gonna enjoy making Mike watch as I break you both..." Sledge grinned wider as he watched the life drain from Star's eyes. She choked and sputtered as her vision went black.

Somewhere

The goggles were removed from his head. He was dazed and confused. His head was swimming and his vision was a garbled mess of colors mixed together poorly. He also heard faint voices. He couldn't make out what they were saying. He only cared about what he just witnessed. It made his head hurt, as if he had watched it a hundred times. He felt like his brain had been put in a blender and set to smoothie. His limbs were numb, his head ached, and his body refused to respond to his commands, despite his best efforts. But then... The voice he was hearing said one word, and he heard it clearly. Be heard the name; Sledge. This name made his head rise up. His eyes glowed a brilliant emerald color, but all he saw... Was red.


	13. Gonna get a little weird

_A/N We're nearing the end my friends. What do you all think so far? Let me know. Enjoy. And one more thing... you may notice something familiar I'll describe at the end..._

**Chapter 13: Gonna get a little weird...**

earlier

Star and Marco were staring down the gates of a castle in a different dimension. The castle sat atop a floating mass of land a mile wide in all directions. It was only big enough to hold the castle and not much else. And the whole thing sat in the middle of a black empty void. They felt they were on the edge of reality itself, but they held firm. They looked at one another with determination in their eyes.

"You ready Star?" Marco asked as he held her hand. Star squeezed his hand gently.

"Ready." They looked upon the giant doors of the castle and began to march. As they approached, they reflected on what brought them here...

earlier still

They had just gotten back from the hospital and were tearing up the house looking for Mike, but he was nowhere to be found. Star grunted in frustration and punched a wall.

"Damn Sledge!" She shouted.

"Woah, language Star-" Marco tried to return the rating to PG, but Star was stuck strictly to R. She shot a glare at him.

"Screw language! He has my brother doing who-knows what to him! We gotta get him back and I don't care who we beat up to get him!"

"Alright, alright." Marco replied. "Just calm down. We'll find him, but not when we're on the warpath." Star was still seething, but she tried her best to calm down.

"Okay..." She said between angry pants. "So, how do we find this sucker?" Star stared at Ludo with intensity. Ludo backed away, fearful for his safety from the raging teen.

"Hey, hey hey hey. He had a tracker on last time. There's no way we could find him unless..." He paused for a moment.

"Unless? Unless what?!" Star demanded.

"Unless... He generated a lot of power." Marco cocked his head.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, earth boy, that he didn't have a pair of dimensional scissors last I checked. Meaning that if he planned on slipping away, he'd have to generate a lot of power. That power can be traced. Didn't you feel the air shift after we found Sledge's tracker?"

"Yea..." Star said, remembering. "I thought it was just the wind but..."

"It was something else..." Marco finished. "Something strong."

"Exactly. Now, that power has something of a wormhole effect to it, meaning if the power surge started at the hospital-" Star's eyes lit up

"Then that means there's another surge marking where he ended up!" She gasped and squealed with delight. "So how do we track it?!" She asked. Ludo looked down and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well... You can't... Not really..."

"Excuse me?"

"There's no technology that can track this power. You gotta find the source... With your instincts.

"...What The heck is that supposed to mean?"

"We'll figure it out, Star. But we should really go home and rest. We probably need it and it'll help us think clearer." Marco suggested. Star stared at him.

"How can you think of sleeping at a time like this?! Sledge could be torturing Mike right now! Or worse!" Marco placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Listen to reason. Sledge went through this trouble to kidnap him. He wouldn't put in all that effort just to kill him. We have time, Star. We need to use it wisely." Star opened her mouth to object, but then shut it. There was logic to the safe kid's words. And he was right, she was tired. Too tired to think and definitely to tired to argue.

"Fine..."

"Then it's settled. I'll go gather some of my men. You two inform me if you figure anything out." With that, Ludo bid the teens adu as he snipped himself away. Marco looked at Star and hugged her before going home.

A bit later

"Goodnight mom, goodnight dad." Marco called to his parents.

"Goodnight son, we hope to see Mike out of the hospital soon!" Ralph said as he and his wife went onto their room. Marco sighed and turned around only to see Star on his bed.

"You didn't tell them?" She asked. Marco shook his head.

"I didn't want them to worry." Marco groaned and rubbed his eyes. "What're we gonna do...? I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out what Ludo meant by finding it with instinct but..." He exhaled with exhaustion.

"We'll figure it out Marco. We always do." Star said with a smile. Marco appreciated her kind gesture and smiled back.

"Thank you Star... Uh, could you cover your eyes for a minute? I'm gonna get in my jam jams." Star giggled a little and nodded as she covered her eyes with her hands. Marco, making sure she wasn't cheating by waiving his hand in front of her, nodded in confirmation and got out of his day-to-day wear and into his nightwear. But just as he was about to put on his shirt, Star decided to be mischievous and sneak a peak at Marco. What she saw only lasted a brief second, but she swore she saw something.

"Marco..." She said as she dropped her hands. Marco quickly put his shirt on to avoid embarrassment.

"Hey! I said no peaking!"

"No, this is serious. Lift your shirt." Star said, standing up and approaching him.

"What?! Why?" Marco replied.

"I saw something. On your chest. Lift the shirt."

"There's nothing on my chest. At least there shouldn't be." Star seemed adamant, so he indulged her. He took off his shirt, admittedly, a bit embarrassed. Star frowned once she saw bare skin.

"I swear I saw something..."

"Are you just trying to be a perv-" But just before Marco could finish his sentence, Star saw it again, but this time, it flashed ever so dimly.

"I saw it! Did you?!" Star said in shock and awe. Marco had indeed saw it and was beginning to freak out. But then it flashed again, a bit brighter. This time, Star made out a small bit if it.

"It looked like... Water? No, clouds!" It flashed again, but stayed luminescent a bit longer. "No... It's wings!"

"What?!" Marco looked down and it glowed brighter and longer, but now it started to hurt. "Ah! I-it burns!" Star's eyes widened. The glow was unbelievable now and didn't go away at all. It was then she got a full view of it: It was some kind of symbol. It had two large angelic wings on either side of what looked like circles arranged in a circle, but it didn't look complete. There was only half and the half the was there had, in counterclockwise formation, a green circle on top, two reds beside it, and a pink on bottom. This was strange in itself.

"Ah! Star! AHH!" Marco groaned more, and Stars eyes widened more. She saw two more circles get added to the ring of circles. Now, to the right of the green circle, was two blue circles of different shades; strangely, her and Marco's favorite colors. She went to touch the strange symbol, but then her chest began to glow too. She yelled out as pain shot through her. At the same time, the pain in Marco went away and he calmed down.

"Oh... Oh wow... That was..." He the looked at Star with shock. "Star!" He rushed to her and laid her on the bed as she went through the same ordeal he went though. The whole thing lasted about ten minutes, and when it was over, both teens collapsed with exhaustion. "What... The heck... Was that...?"

"I... Have no... Idea..." Star peaked down her shirt and saw the exact same symbol on her chest as Marco's. The teens looked at each other for a few minutes with total shock. They were shocked, not only because of the surprise tattoo's they got, but because they also received clairvoyance. The visions that went through their heads made everything snap into place, and their world just got a whole lot bigger.


	14. Gonna get a little wild

_A/N Nothing to say. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 14: Gonna get a little wild...**

Later

The teens barged through the doors of the massive castle with the help of Star's magic. The main hall of the castle was mostly empty, save for some minor decorations and tapestries. They began to wander around, half expecting there to be some kind of resistance. They were instead met with the voice of Sledge, though he was nowhere to be found.

"So you found me, eh? Took you long enough. Though I suppose you'd have found me eventually. Ya'll are special like that. But Ha! How the mighty have fallen." Star sneered and looked for the source, but found none.

"Shut up! When I find you I swear I'll-" Sledge interrupted her.

"Do what, princess? Turn me pink? Maybe surround me with bunnies? Your magic is weak, girl. But me... My powers... Are far greater than you can ever imagine. The things I've been granted with..." Sledge laughed maniacally. "I can't wait to crack you both open... Like a coconut. Mmm..." Marco growled.

"I'm so gonna enjoy pounding your face in..."

"You'll have to get to me first... and trust me, I made the path ahead... Interesting." Sledge went silent. They figured he was done talking. Star screamed and blew up a bust of his ugly mug to smithereens. Marco didn't even bother calming her down.

"The bust didn't deserve that, Star. The real guy does. Save your energy for him." Star seethed in reply.

"Oh, I got something special planned for him." Marco nodded as they made their way to the first door.

"What do you think he has planned for us?" Marco asked. Star shook her head.

"No clue. But I'm gonna make sure whatever is keeping us from him is gonna have a few broken bones by the time I'm done with them." Marco nodded.

"Well said. Well said." Together, the teens opened the great wooden doors to reveal a large mess hall... That was filled tons of monsters of all shapes and sizes. The whole of the room stared at them and Sledge's voice was heard again.

"I never said it would be easy." He laughed and went silent again as the monsters rushed The teen duo. Their eyes widened as they dodged the first volley of monsters. They managed to knock a few out, either with magic or hand-to-hand techniques. But there was a lot of them. Star started growling angrily and began to glow a bit blue.

"Star no! Not yet! Save it for Sledge!" Star looked at Marco and grumbled. She shoved her anger down and instead blasted the monsters with a sunlight beam. The monsters that weren't blinded by the beam or instantly turned to dust ran amok around the room. The chaos and disorder allowed Marco to pick them off one by one. After managing to clear the room, the teens took a moment to rest. At which point, Sledge's voice filled the room again.

"Impressive... You kept me from falling asleep due to boredom. But it's only gonna get harder from here." He laughed once more as the next set of doors opened to reveal even more monsters. Bigger. Badder. And madder. Star groaned.

"Oh give me a break..." She then smirked at Marco as they got into a fighting stance.

"At least give us a challenge." Marco finished as they rushed the monsters. Sledge, from his safe point somewhere in the castle, was genuinely surprised by their merit.

"No..." He mumbled. "Not possible... There's no way they could have..." He shook his head. No sooner had he finished his thoughts, Star and Marco had already cleared the room without so much as breaking a sweat. He narrowed his insane eyes and pulled out his pair of dimensional scissors. He opened several rifts through many dimensions and poured them into the castle. But his enemies weren't slowing down. In fact, it looked as though they were picking up speed. As each monster fell, they seemed to grow stronger. He pounded the wall angrily as he slashed madly at the fabrics of reality. He unleashed masses of monsters into his castle. "To hell if the castle falls." He smirked a little. "It's not like they made it here in time anyway..." Sledge left the chaos of his castle and retreated to his fortified inner sanctum. He watched and waited with a smirk as they closed in on a certain special room. Meanwhile, the duo was cutting a clean swath through everything they were put up against. Trolls, goblins, hellhounds, ogre's and even dragons fell at their feet. Many a monster was bested as they tore through the castle. This mindless violence wasn't their goal though, nor revenge on Sledge. Their main goal was to find Mike, and so far, they weren't having much luck. The castle was large, and built like a maze. It was hard going and they got very tired, but they pushed forward. They were determined to find him, no matter what was thrown at them. Their toiling came to a head as they found a door that was different from the rest. It was mettle, modern. It had a handprint scanner on it that they assumed only opened for Sledge.

"Hmm... How are we gonna get in there-" Marco's words were cut off as Star fired a hyper beam at the doors lock, effectively melting it. "Oh. Like that." Star giggled a bit and Marco kicked open the door. The teens went in and immediately found that the room was void of monsters. But what they saw made them wish that was what was in here. What they did see, was Mike, strapped to a chair with a strange device attached to his head. Marco walked over to what the machine was attached to and saw that it was linked to a computer. He stared at the screen for a few moments, then his jaw dropped

"What? What is it, Marco?" Star asked. Marco didn't, or couldn't, reply. He simply pointed at the screen and waited for Star to look. She did, and she covered her mouth in shock. Together, they saw what Mike ah! been enduring the past few days: They saw the same scenario over and over, the scenario of Sledge breaking into their home, kidnapping them, and putting them through indescribable torture. After realizing that Mike was still watching this, they quickly began getting him free. As soon as the device was off his head, they saw how weak and disoriented he was. His eyes couldn't focus on anything and he could barely hold up his head. Star then began to work on the straps binding him to the chair. "Don't worry Mike." She said to her brother. "We're gonna get you out of here, get you fixed up, then Sledge is gonna pay for what he did-" At the mention of his name, Mime's head snapped up and stared directly at Star. His eyes quickly began to glow a brilliant green.

"I knew I saw..." Marco mumbled.

"B-brother...? Mike?" Mike cracked his knuckles under the sheer force of how hard he was clenching them. Suddenly, all hell broke loose as he broke out of his bindings and lunged.


	15. They ain't from 'round here

_A/N Hello everyone! Nothing much to say, except to remember that I intentionally leave questions unanswered in my stories, and certain aspects won't make sense right now. Fear not, they will be answered in the future. Keep that in mind, especially now.Enjoy!_

**Chapter 15: They ain't from 'round here...**

Star screamed as Mike pinned her down. She froze as Mike studied her. He looked her up and down with his angry, glowing eyes. She must not have been his target, because he huffed and let her go as he raced out of the room. As Star and Marco were recovering by the sudden attack, they heard bangs and screams from down the hall. The teens looked at each other uneasily as they rushed after Mike. As they ran, they saw the destruction Mike left in his wake: Destroyed furniture, unconscious bodies of monsters and goons, among other things.

"I had no idea he was like this..." Marco said.

"Me either... But then, what would you do if you were forced to watch... That?" Star replied.

"I don't know..." He said as he hung his head a bit. "Nothing pretty, that's for sure." They dropped the subject once they heard metal banging just a few rooms away. They navigated the chaos and found Mike furiously pounding on a metal door. Just as Star was about to call out to her brother, they heard the last thing they ever wanted to hear: Sledge's mocking voice.

"What's the matter big guy?" He said from just behind his door. "Can't bust through a bit of tin?" He laughed in Mike's face, which contorted in anger. Sledge laughed more, but his laughter quickly ended when he saw Mike step back and charge the door. Sledge's eyes widened as Mike smashed through it, causing metal and springs to go flying everywhere. Mike groaned a bit due to the pain. He started to get up, but then Sledge kicked his sides, knocking him over. "Tsk tsk tsk. What do we have here..." Sledge nudged Mike with his foot. Who growled in reply. "I expected more." His taunting words caused Mike to stand up and snarl at Sledge, who had a wicked smile on his face. "Don't bother, Mike. You said it yourself, you don't know how to fight." Much to Sledge's surprise, Mike smirked and slammed his fist so hard into Sledge's face that he was knocked back a few feet and landed on his back.

"I said I didn't like fighting... Never said I wasn't good at it." Sledge growled and wiped his bloody lip as he stood up. The fight was now on. Sledge lunged at Mike, trying to use his sheer insanity and Unpredictability to trip up Mike, but he wasn't having any of it. Mike rolled out of the way of Sledge and rammed his elbow into his knee, sending him down. Mike then swung his foot around and slammed it into Sledge's head. Sledge groaned, but was far from beaten. He stood up and growled animalistically at Mike. Sledge rushed Mike again, but this time he made contact. He send blow after blow into Mike's gut, who groaned and took it for the most part. "Enough!" Mike growled as he drove his fist into Sledge's back. Sledge yelled in pain and uppercut Mike, sending him back a few feet. Mike shook his head, a bit dazed. Sledge grinned at his opportunity. He grabbed a nearby torch sconce and pried it from the wall. He aimed the pointy end at Mike's neck and brought it down. But Mike wouldn't go down that easily. Not by a long shot. He managed to grab Sledge's wrist in mid-air and he began to twist. Sledge groaned and tried to fight back, but Mike just kept twisting. And twisting. And twisting some more. Eventually, the solid sound of broken bone filled the room. Sledge howled in pain and, enraged by it, swung at Mike. But just before contact was made, a magical beam blasted Sledge across the room and slamming him into the stone wall. Sledge groaned and looked up to see a hazy figure standing over him. He chuckled a bit. "Really Star? Interrupting our fight?" The figure shook their head and began to get clearer. Sledge's eyes widened at who he truly saw. Same with Mike, who's confusion overrode his anger.

"What...? How?!" Mike said. The person looked back at Mike and smiled.

"Mike, have we got some explaining to do for you." Marco said. Normally, Mike wouldn't be surprised that Marco had just used magic. Anyone with a wand could. The fact is... Marco didn't have the wand. Sledge began to crawl away, but this rekindled Mike's rage as he grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up, pinning him to the wall. Sledge choked and sputtered a bit and beat on Mike weakly with his one arm.

"Not... Possible... How...?" He said between ragged breaths. Star marched up to Sledge and sneered.

"You and your master made a terrible, terrible mistake." She said. Sledge grunted a bit and tried to break free.

"No... No!" He said as he struggled. Marco growled a bit as his hand began to glow blue.

"You shouldn't have messed with my family." Marco said.

"NOOOOO-" This suddenly cut off scream was the last to ever escape Sledge's mouth as Marco and Star blasted him with a power Mike had not seen before. He quickly backed up as he watched Sledge turn to ash on the floor in a neat little pile. Mike's anger completely evaporated at this point. Instead, it was replaced with confusion. He looked up at Star and Marco, who could clearly see his distress. Star gave a small smile as she helped her brother up.

"I'll bet you have some questions, Mike." She said. Mike nodded.

"Yea... Like, Marco... Magic? Humans can't do magic on their own. Only mewmans can." He stated. Marco chuckled a bit.

"Well, I'm gonna tell you this first, You're not a mewman. Neither is Star." Mike blinked.

"Uh... Wrong-o. Me and Star were born and raised on mewnie." Star sighed and wondered how to explain what she knew.

"Listen... The easiest way I can explain it, is that me and you were put on mewnie as part of a much greater, incredibly elaborate plan." Mike blinked in total confusion, but something about her explanation rung a bell in his head.

"I'll have to take a rain check on that one..." Mike scratched his chin for a moment, until he remembered something Marco had said. "Marco... ealier... You told Sledge that he... Messed with your family..." Marco and Star smiled a bit.

"Yea... I did." He replied.

"Mike." Star said as she wrapped and arm around Marco. "You probably won't believe this right now but... Marco... Is our brother." Mike blinked. It made no sense, how could it? There was simply no way. Except... Something stirred in Mike... Memories... Buried deep inside... His chest started to glow, and a familiar symbol etched itself onto his skin. He looked up at them in shock.

"We're... From another dimension..." Suddenly, their whole world shattered around them.

_A/N Hey, remember when I said Star and Marco's kiss was canon to the reader? This is what I meant. I suppose if you want both you could imagine it like that little scene in star wars. But I digress, if you didn't like it, that's fine. I won't reference their relationship in the future, so whether or not they're still a couple is up to the reader (you)._

_Oh, and this isn't the final chapter._


	16. Epilogue

_A/N This chapter will be much shorter than usual, but this chapter will mark the end of this story. See ya next month_!

**Chapter 16: Epilogue**

In another place, in another time, there was a facility. And in this facility , was a stoic man staring at a screen. He studied what it showed and looked back at his master.

"He's gotten two more sir." He said in monotone. The master he referred too clenched his fist and slammed it down on his chair in anger.

"Damn it... And what of Sledge?" The commander asked. The man shook his head.

"The powers you offered him went to his head. He lost track of his mission. Not that he stood much a chance against them anyway." He continued to look at the screen and watched Sledge turn to dust over and over again, his face never changing. The commander hissed in rage.

"That makes five now." The commander glared at the remaining screens. "Jack couldn't do it... Gaster defected..." He glared at the man looking at the screen, who looked back and stared with the same look he always had. "My second in command, I give you the task of making sure he doesn't find any more of them." The commander smirked evilly as the man walked over to a portal. "By any means necessary." The maniacal cackling of the commander echoed trough the facility, where countless monsters and creatures banged against their cages at the noise. The commander stopped his laughter soon after the man stepped through the portal. "No one else should know these secrets. No one but me deserves these powers. This world... This universe... This plane of existence... It belongs to me."


End file.
